Errata

Making Things Talk

Errata for Making Things Talk

Submit your own errata for this product.

The errata list is a list of errors and their corrections that were found after the product was released.

The following errata were submitted by our customers and have not yet been approved or disproved by the author or editor. They solely represent the opinion of the customer.

Color Key: Serious technical mistake Minor technical mistake Language or formatting error Typo Question Note Update

Version Location Description Submitted by Date submitted
Printed Page page 62
code

I found an issue and a simple correction with the Monski Pong project
that I would like to share with you.

I am using Processing version 2.0.3. and the current code works except for
displaying the score.
The code:
// create a font with the third font available to the system:
PFont myFont = createFont(PFont.list()[2], fontSize);

Does not read when compiled with the Processing version 2.0.3. If the
score is to be displayed and the score reset function is to work as
described and shown in the book on page 62 figure 2-14 then the following
change must be implemented:
// create a font with the third font available to the system:
PFont myFont = createFont("Arial",fontSize,true);

This was the only way I could make the score work for the project as
described in the text.

 Anonymous  Jan 02, 2014 
Printed Page xiii
sidebox:3rd paragraph

URL for book's website goes nowhere; should have link to errata page at oreilly,com

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 12
Lower Right corner, in the box titled 'Making the SSH Connection'

I cannot figure out how to connect to 'myhost.com'.

Specifically, I do not know what password to use, or how to find the correct password.

The instructions in the book read:
"The computer will try to connect to the remote host, asking for your password when it connects...."

What is this password, or how do I find it?

Thanks,
Scott.

 Scott   Oct 21, 2014 
Printed Page 44
First diagram

DB-9 Serial connector pins 1 to 5 appear to be numbered the wrong way around. That is, pin 1 shown should be 5, 4 should be 2, and so on.

 Anonymous  Aug 04, 2013 
Printed Page 44
fig. 2-5

pins of the USB-serial adapter are mislabelled. TX and RX are reversed.

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 62
last paragraph

should say "setup() of the Arduino sketch" not "startup()"

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 108
bottom blue code box, line 7

"// convert to an int and map..." -- actually the code converts to a float

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 120
col. 1, last paragraph

"Ethernet ahield" should be "shield"

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 124
top blue code box, line 10-11

one line of previous code was omitted --
Serial.write(thisChar);
-- this needs to be inserted after line "char thisChar =..."

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 134
top blue code box, last line

for a 2 minute interval you need to say "requestInterval = 120000;" not 10000 which is 10 seconds

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 137
last paragraph, line 4

"... GET request every two minutes..." not ten

 Alex NM  Jul 18, 2015 
Printed Page 145
blue code box, paragraph 3 line 3

should be "... to the console" not the monitor pane.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 188
last paragraph, line 5

should say "Once it's there..." not one

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 202
2nd paragraph, line 3

should say "data" not da

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 218
2nd para

Configure It (WEP), line 3: should say "If you're using WEP..." not WPA

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 234
2nd col., 2nd paragraph, line 2

should say "sends them out its serial port to the Arduino" not Xbee

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 236
bottom image of circuit board

capacitors are missing

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 237
fig. 7-6

top image's TIP120 internals are misdrawn and mislabeled; this is a NPN transistor. Bottom image: wiring of transistor is correct, but the snubber diode was omitted.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 239
fig 7-8

bottom image of circuit board: yellow wire from D0 to Xbee is misdrawn (going to pin 3 -- should go to pin 2)

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 243
both blue code boxes

both blue code boxes: // comments say "seconds" -- should be "milliseconds"

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 251
fig. 7-13 top

2N3906 internals and lead labels are misdrawn. This is a PNP transistor. Bottom image: transistor is wired wrong, reversed c & e. 3 of the 4 resistors to pins 2 and 3 of the MAX8212 are misconnected.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 251
fig. 7-13 top and bottom

Sorry, previous post of error was wrong in part. Only one resistor is misconnected. I noticed an additional problem however. It should read:

2N3906 internals and lead labels are misdrawn. This is a PNP transistor. Bottom image: transistor is wired wrong, reversed c & e. The 10K resistor goes to pin 3 of the MAX8212, not pin 2 as drawn. Cathodes of 2 LEDs need to connect to ground.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 252
fig. 7-14, bottom image

red wire from VR to Xbee Vcc input is misdrawn -- needs to connect to center pin of the LD1117. Cathodes of the 2 LEDs need to connect to ground.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 268
blue code box

map()'s argument order is reversed; should be "map(sensorValue, inputLow, inputHi, outputLow, outputHi" -- identical error on p. 271.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 297
both blue code boxes

pitch and roll assignments are reversed; x values correspond to pitch, y values to roll

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 298
1st paragraph, line 5

"accelerations" misspelled

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 319
fig. 9-8

top diagram: wire from ID12 reader TX pin should go to RX pin of USB-serial adapter. Wiring image at bottom is correct.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 346
Saving Program Memory section

"Saving Program Memory": Using the F() syntax to store string constants in this sketch is a very good idea, but the text misstates the reason and some fundamentals. It's not Program Memory (flash) you are trying to spare -- it's the RAM used by the program! The Uno's program memory (aka flash) is 32K, whereas its RAM (aka SRAM) is 2K, and strings take up a lot of room. The F("string") operator stores them in program memory, leaving more room in RAM for program operations. So the paragraph should read:

"Saving RAM for your program
The sketch for this project is complex and takes a large chunk of the Arduino's (32K) program memory, but it puts even more strain on the limited RAM (2K) available to run it. You'll notice that the Serial print statements use a new syntax: Serial.println(F("Hello"));
The F() notation tells the program to store the text that follows in flash memory (program memory) rather than RAM. Because the print statements are for debugging only, and are not going to change, this saves precious RAM memory for your program to use."

see: http://playground.arduino.cc/Learning/Memory

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 372
fig. 10-8

wire from relay should go to Arduino pin D2 not D1.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 390
bottom of page, The Hack Solution, line 5

should read "if (fileType ==2);" you want this stuff to print for XML not HTML (type 1)

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015 
Printed Page 402
fig. 10-17

type of sensor is mislabeled; voltage going to the microcontroller should say "Analog 0-3.7v" not 0-5.

 Alex NM  Jul 19, 2015